German soccer legend Pierre Littbarski, who was playing in the German Bundesliga under Cha Bum-geun, former coach of the Korean national soccer team, saw the potential of Korean youth.
At the end of last year, Littbarski came to Korea to participate in the first VfL Wolfsburg soccer camp held in Paju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea for about 10 days. Held under the auspices of Korea’s official partner International Sports Exchange Association (ISEA), this camp was conducted to nurture Korean youth (U12, U15, U18) and soccer leaders, and advance into the German professional league. Former German national football team legend and current Wolfsburg scout Pierre Littbarski and senior coaches came to Korea to scout players and discover domestic prospects.
Littbarski, who was on his second visit to Korea after 2017, seemed to be very impressed even though his time teaching Korean youth was not long. In an interview with <Best Eleven> at the Millennium Hilton Seoul Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, Littbarski said, “It was a very interesting experience.” The reason is that he discovered sprouts of very good qualities in each grade. He said that he saw many talented Korean players in 2017 as well, and this time too.
Litbarski said that when he first saw Korean youth players, he thought they were only good at tricks, but he realized that they were really talented in soccer, scoring goals well. So he said he was very surprised. He expressed the impression he received from youth guidance, saying that he loves football so much and is really sincere about football, and that there are many children who play football of, for, and by football.
So <b11> asked again. Have you discovered the talents you want to nurture by taking them to Wolfsburg, a prestigious German Bundesliga team, in Korea? Littbarski answered “yes” without waiting a moment. He said he was interested in about three of his friends, around the age of 17. About three of them mentioned that they would like to train and invite them to Wolfsburg for about three weeks to experiment.
He said he didn’t know his name right away, but he even thought of bringing him in if he passed the test. When asked what the three of them liked, he replied, “They are very good technically as well as fast passes.
Littbarski is a German football legend that any old fan should know. Born in 1960, he is seven years older than director Cha Beom-geun. He led his country to victory at the 1990 World Cup in Italy as part of the West German national team. Director Cha, born in 1953, played for SV Darmstadt, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Bayer 04 Leverkusen from 1978 to 1989, which were relatively late in his active career, so his activities overlap.
Littbarski also made his professional debut at FC Cologne in 1978 and continued to play for Cologne until 1986. He played for about a year at Racing Cleuve de France, then finished his Bundesliga career at Cologne from 1987 to 1993. With the exception of 1986, 안전놀이터 most of Cha Boom’s career in Germany overlaps with Littbarski’s career.
Meanwhile, in addition to this program, this camp also provided an opportunity to answer questions from parents about player scouting through a soccer seminar. The organizers said that this will serve as a bridgehead for players to advance into overseas and European professional leagues.
In this camp, a variety of experiences and opportunities were provided, from a German football gifted professional program focused on position training and small group education, to parent meetings with scouts, individual assessments and intensive coaching by Wolfsburg coaches.
In addition, players who showed excellent training results during the camp were selected as scholarship students and provided scholarships for one year. The 1st ISEA scholarship students received 6 million won for U18, 3.6 million won for U15, and 2.4 million won for U12, respectively.
The next round of this regularly held camp is scheduled to be held in April 2023. The organizers said, “We plan to come back with a scholarship and a richer awards ceremony.”